


So, Here We Are

by darling_idnever



Category: Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Genre: Berlin (City), Berlin Wall, Canon Compliant, Freddy and K are old now, Future Fic, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Canon, World War II, different ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26844646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darling_idnever/pseuds/darling_idnever
Summary: A small future fic in which I rewrite the ending of Jojo Rabbit a wee bit.
Relationships: Freddy Finkel/Captain Klenzendorf, Jojo Betzler & Captain Klenzendorf, Jojo Betzler & Elsa Korr
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	So, Here We Are

West Berlin, Germany: 1968

Fourteen years after the war.

The years after the war wasn’t easy for Freddy and K. They were always on the move, bouncing from place-to-place until they eventually were able to settle in the mid-fifties. Each year brought something new and something horrible, but the past one had possibly been the hardest for both men.

Freddy had suddenly fallen ill the previous year, and when it hit, it hit hard. 

_ “Cancer,” _ _ The doctor had told him. “More specifically, skin cancer. Its most likely hereditary. It's a real nasty disease.” _

And what an ugly disease it was. It had snuck up on both men, Freddy more so than K. The younger man was suffering, and it pained the older male that he was unable to do anything to help.

Freddy passed months later. He would have been fifty-eight that spring. If his body was a bit stronger, maybe he would have lived to see homosexuality decriminalized later that year.

-

It had been five months since Freddy’s passing. Five incredibly painful and long months for K. He spent most of his time in his armchair now, smoking a cigar and looking out to the city’s skyline, just as he was doing right now. 

The skyline was beautiful yet so depressing. After the war, K hoped a great amount for reform but the wall went up. That damn wall. Built for all of the right and wrong reasons. Splitting and tearing their country apart even more.

K sighed and put down his cigar into the ashtray by his side, his hand knocking into a picture frame. After a moment he picked up the frame and gazed down at it, smiling as he did so. The photo inside was a picture of little Johannes Betzler, who was no longer so little in the photo, his wife, and his two daughters. 

K and Freddy had received the photo a little after they moved into their small flat. Neither men understood how the boy found them or their address but they were intrigued.

K flipped the frame over, as tenderly as he could with his shaky and bony hands, and unlatched the back. Lifting the back, his good eye, which was still as strong as ever, was met with the sight of familiar handwriting. Johannes’ print. K sighed. He must have read the young man's handwriting hundreds of times at the HJ Office. It was almost just the same, but far more refined and mature. 

The handwriting read,

_Captain K,_

_ “Thank you for saving me. This is what you helped me create.” _

_ \- Johannes Paul Betzler _

That short and simple message always warmed K’s heart. It always put him at ease. At least he did one thing that was good during the war. 

Of course, he did far more than just save a young and innocent boy and girl’s life, but that was beyond K entirely. He sometimes thought of both children. The photograph was the only contact he ever had with Johannes after the war, but the young girl was ever a mystery to him. He never got the pleasure of learning the young girl’s name, but maybe he didn’t have the right to that opportunity, and he was okay with that.

The brunette put the picture frame back together and put it down before he reached into his shirt pocket. K pulled out a familiar yet worn piece of parchment. It was the picture of Freddy and him that he had carried with him during the war. His thumb gently rubbed the edge of the parchment as he smiled, the skin by the sides of his eyes wrinkling even more.

_ Oh, how he missed his Darling Friedrich. _

Feeling tired, he leaned back into his chair more and closed his eyes.

-

The jangling of keys and the padding of footsteps filled the small apartment. K’s landlady had let herself in, just as she always had in the past few months. She was a younger woman, in her late thirties, and had always dropped by every day at ten to say hello after Freddy had died.

“Hi Herr Klenzendorf, it’s just me,” She called out.

She made her way through the kitchen and passed by both bedrooms, slightly peeking in.

“Herr Klenzendorf?” The brunette woman called out as she stepped into the parlor.

There the man was, in his armchair, fast asleep, and parchment in hand which rested right on his chest.

“Herr Klenzendorf,” She whispered as she put her hand on his shoulder, slowly moving it down to his forearm.

The woman softly gasped when she felt how cold he was and then realized that K was no longer breathing. Her breath hitched as she took a deep breath. She went to sit the recliner back up but rigor mortis had already begun to set in.

_ He must have passed in his sleep.  _ She thought.

The brunette covered the older man’s body with the throw blanket that was draped over the couch, and then cupped the side of K’s cold face, feeling pity for him.

She placed a soft kiss to his forehead before standing with a frown. Her gaze traveled over and spotted the image beside him. The brunette had seen the photograph many times during the last handful of months and it never failed to make her smile. The woman gently scooped up the image and felt her heart warm.

“He’s with Finkel, again, Jojo,” She whispered. 

She carefully put the frame back down before turning back to the former captain’s body.

“Thank you,” She whispered.

And with that, Elsa put the picture frame back down before walking to the telephone.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small blurb I wrote in 30 minutes. I haven't written a fic in ages this is odd. I hope you enjoyed :D
> 
> I'd love some feedback or little writing criticisms.


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